Paths Intertwine
by sethMARYmerle
Summary: The war ends on one side however another begins on the other side .What will the five war veterans from the AC era do when they find themselves trap in world that mirrored their own. D-I-S-C-O-N-T-I-N-U-E-D
1. A disturnance

Disclaimer: sethMARYmerle does not own anything, neither Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed or any Gundam related stories. They belong to their respected owners.

A Disturbance

WAR...Humanity never seems to get enough of it. Conflict after conflict had always managed to be stirred by the corrupted society. War starts with people and it ends with people. Humanity is the only thing capable of ending what it has started. When humanity had begun to reach for the stars and begin a new life in space, they thought that the never ending fights would seize however the opposite occurred. Equip with the technology develop over the years, menacing weapons were made called mobile suits and with them humanity brought terror and bloodshed into space.

In the year After Colony 195, the Earth Sphere Alliance took control of one colony after another in the name of justice yet what they did was not justice but tyranny, anyone they see who opposes them would be killed on the spot. Operation Meteor, in attempt to seize back the freedom taken from them, certain members of some colonies hatch a plan of sending deadly weapons on earth in the guise of shooting stars.

Troubles and hardships were met. Many perished and little survived but they succeeded and brought peace back; the peace that all have struggled to obtain. With the help of the newly formed United Earth Sphere Alliance, they guided humanity once again to begin a new step towards peace and prosperity.

In light of peace, all armaments ranging from mobile suits to mobile dolls were declared to be eliminated, destroyed or demolished. The Preventers, an organization made to sustain and prolong the peace was put in charge of this operation. They work under the UESA and is primarily made up of former soldiers or people who were born during the conflict and only know how to fight.

Of course the destruction of all mobile weapons included the Gundams. Their pilots, thinking that they were no longer needed and that it was for the best, destroyed their own Gundams and began a life away from the war torn world they grow up in.

One after another they signed up and joined the Preventers, Heero being undeniably the last. Only Wufei work full time there, the remaining four however took part time job due to them having other works, Trowa working at a circus, Quatre running a Winner Corporation, Duo opening his own junk shop with Hilde, and Heero secretly working as a bodyguard to his beloved Relena whose life is put danger due to her job as the Vice Foreign Minister. They would occasionally meet and remember the past. Somehow wandering how they had survived from so much bloodshed.

One of these rare occasions is taking place right at this moment in the Preventer Headquarters stationed within the L1 Colony Cluster although it isn't for reminiscing the past with comrades as the normal gatherings of the five were but to discuss a case that has been bothering the five for a while now.

It all started a month ago when the five individually received a mail from an anonymous address. The mail contained information on two enemy factions planning to start a war among themselves along with some military weapons whose specs were alien to the five Gundam pilots. They later found out that the all five of them received the same mail. It puzzled them to no end how something like this could have been happening right under the noses of the UESA and the Preventers.

They have tried to track down the address that sent the mail but the attempt was futile as it led them to a death end. They have also each given a report about the strange mail however the Preventers knew nothing about anything said in the mail and the lack of anymore information put the organization into turmoil.

Just last night, the Headquarters received another mail detailing the location the base suspected to be the hideout of one of the factions.

Lady Une stood before them, unlike the past where they pointed guns at each other's throat, this time they were more in friendlier terms as she was now their superior as well as a Preventer. She had called them for a joint mission about the matter they were very much familiar with. It was decided that they were the ones to take care of the case as they were the first to obtain the information.

"This is the site mentioned in the anonymous mail," she told them and pointed on the map behind her. It was the location of the unfinished colonies that were abandoned due to the war. No one had set foot unto those colonies since the war ended or so they thought.

"The origin of this information is uncertain yet we cannot take any chances. If this information turned out to be true who knows how many mobile suits they have at their disposal that could pose a large threat to all of us especially to the peace."

"However, the fact that this information came waltzing into our hands is suspicious enough. It may just be a trap set by some remnants trying to steer the world back to conflict?"

Lady Une turned to the one whom had spoken those words; it was Heero, wearing the same blank expression that he was famous for but his eyes betrayed what he was really feeling. His appearance has not change much in the past six months after the war. At the moment, He was wearing a Preventer jacket over a sea-green shirt. Duo, Trowa, Qautre, and Wufei were wearing the same attire except Duo's shirt was rose red, Trowa's was deep blue; Qautre's was pure white while Wufei's was light brown.

"That is why we are simply sending the five of you to verify the reliability of the information. If it is false information then there is no harm done, however if it is true get out of there at once and return back to report." Lady Une replied and then continued. "It is best to face these matters as fast we can. You should set out as soon as possible; the latest would be these afternoon."

"This afternoon it is then," said Wufei, standing up and nodded towards Une before moving out the door. The remaining four followed after, saluting at Une before leaving.

When the door was closed and their footsteps gone, Lady Une let out a single breath she didn't think she was holding but did. She slump down at her chair and took the file that contained the details of the mission she had just given. She could not help but have these nagging feeling that something terrible will go wrong in this assignment.

Lady Une was reluctant of sending her best agents to a possible suicide mission but in the end gave up in the pointless resistance. After all, war will always seem to follow humanity no matter how hard it tries to run from it. Une just hope that the five would return safely and unharmed.


	2. Realm of the Unknown

_Disclaimer: sethMARYmerle does not own anything, neither Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed or any Gundam related stories. They belong to their respected owners._

Voyage to the unknown

Two people stood in a middle of a room that overlook the vast space littered with debris outside of a certain abandoned colony. Nothing could have been distinguished in the dark room except for two pairs of eyes with a peculiar color. These pairs of eyes had several slits of gold not normally seen in human eyes. They stared blankly outside the window, watching numerous debris quietly float around.

"They'll be arriving soon," suddenly informed the first person to his companion upon catching a flicker of movement on the right.

"We better get started," agreed the second person upon noticing the movement as well.

The first person moved from his immobile state and walk away from the window, opening the door on the back of the room. The light from the outside illuminated the person's figure, revealing a young girl no older than seventeen.

"Be careful, they're a bunch of dangerous people, especially when working together," warned the second person whose figure still hidden in the darkness of the room.

The girl chuckled, turning around to face her comrade. "Who do you think I am?" the girl joke. "I finished all preparations beforehand. Let just hope everything goes as planned." she said, her lips forming a nostalgic smile.

She closed the door without another word. The person left inside the room returned his gaze to the frame. He didn't really have to worry about her since she was more capable at these kinds of things than anyone else. The shuttle he has spotted earlier was much closer now and it was only a matter of them before they dock onto the colony.

* * *

><p>A shuttle was traveling in the deep space that wad decorated with specks of little lights known as the stars. It carried five young men, calm and compose, waiting for them to reach their desired destination well except for one who can't seem to sit down, kept on pacing from left to right and the another one who keep on tapping the floor impatiently.<p>

"Qautre settle down for bit and Duo stop tapping your feet, it's getting annoying." Wufei told the two and glared at Duo's direction until him finally stop the annoying noise yet both still seem to be having mental problems of their own.

"What's the matter, Quatre?" Trowa ask the worried blond that had sat down beside him.

"Just that I can't shake this uneasy feeling I have."

"It's the same for me though it like someone is watching me from afar," Duo jumps into the conversation.

"Whatever it is, we'll soon find out. We've arrive," Heero said from his sit up front. Truth be told, right in front of their very eyes were distorted blocks of colonies. It was like the debris belt here. Different components that would have been used to form colonies lingered and drifted aimlessly in the vast space.

Heero stirred the shuttle towards the colony nearest to its completion. He docks the ship on the colony's harbor that was whole and still intact even after so many years of abandonment. All five disembarked, wearing their costumed flight suits with its full black color with simple red and white linings.

They left the shuttle in the docks and went further inside the colony. The interior of the colony was completely dark and nothing could be seen, including the person next to them. The color of their flight suits did not help to solve the problem.

Each one took out and turned on their flash light that was only the size of a small kitchen knife. It took a minute or two for their eyes to adjust to the light since it was first trying to get used to the darkness. The inside of the colony was a complete wreck; one wouldn't be surprise if it collapses on them. Duo waved his own flash light around to see his surroundings until it wondered off to the left side wall were a large scrap of metal innocently sat.

"It seems the information about a military faction setting up base here wasn't that accurate." Heero said while walking over to a piece of oversize metal. "However these thing looks like a scrap of armor for a mobile suit."

"It looks rather beat up through," Quatre mentioned, thinking rather deeply.

"Well, I'll be!" Duo approaches the metal to take a closer look. "This thing is made up of Gundanium Alloy."

"Wait. What?" said a surprised Wufei.

"I said this thing is made up of Gundanium Alloy," Duo repeated and he continued to elaborate. "The texture of this metal is similar to that of a stone even though it has been processed. When Gundanium is modeled, it retains its stone-like texture much more than that of titanium. It's the reason why Gundanium is much stronger than titanium. I know because I've been working on Gundanium back in my junk shop." He finished, sporting a wide grin at outwitting Wufei for once.

Wufei huff in irritation and stormed off to continue their investigation of the colony, the others trailing not far behind. They encountered pieces of metals like the one from earlier, however they were only scraps and wouldn't have been of any use anymore. The halls they took were endless, some had doors that were possibly supposed to be living quarters and that the section they entered was supposed to be a factory.

A sudden sound of hurried footsteps echoed throughout the corridor. It alerted the five former Gundam pilots of another occupant of the supposed abandoned colony aside from them.

"What was that?" Heero asked, from the front of a door he was just about to open.

"It came from over there," Wufei pointed to end of the passage where just in time, a silhouette pass by all too fast.

They stop what there were doing, making eye contact and in a split second, immediately gave pursuit to the unknown footsteps.

The owner of the footsteps was both agile and fast, easily dodging the diverse sizes of mobile suit parts that littered the corridor. The guys were not so far behind. Heero was up front while Qautre was at the back. Following the loud footsteps, they took a number of twist and turns in the corridors like a never ending guise chase. Finally the footsteps ended and the guys found themselves in a large hangar that could have accommodate more than 5 mobile suits and still have room for spare parts..

The lights were on inside the hangar which was simply theoretically impossible due to the lack of a power source residing in the colony, or at least that was what they had originality thought. The person they chased to the place was nowhere to be seen. The five were immediately on guard, expecting the enemy to attack at any moment however the attack never came. They took the time to completely analyze their surroundings. There was something else present inside the hangar that should not been there without human involvement.

Crates and boxes filled one side of the hangar, Trowa and Qautre opened one to see what was inside and found something interesting but at the same time dangerous. On the other hand, Duo, Wufei and Heero went to the other side of the hangar where huge cloaked figures, the size of a mobile suit stood frozen. They were covered by a thick clothed that hide any features they might have had. The only thing the boys could have distinguished was their silhouette which was similar to that of a human.

Duo was just about to uncover one of the figures when a call stops him, coming from the two at the other side of the room who by then had opened six crates. The reason for the call was to show them the contents of the crates. The three stride closer and examined what they had found. Each crate held something utterly different from the next but one thing was for sure about them and that was these crates were supplies meant for a long trip in cold space.

Unnoticed by the five, during the time they had been moving around the hangar, the person they have chased had released a sleeping gas inside the hangar. By the time they had sensed the gas, it was too late and that they have already inhaled it. One after another, the five fell to the floor in deep sleep.

On the other side of the colony, the person has moved the five unconscious pilots to what look like the bridge of a ship. Three hours have passed since the five have been knock unconscious. The person had already tied them up and secured them tightly in order to prevent escape. By the time she was finish, the effects of the sleeping gas should have been wearing off and they would be waking up soon.

The person then sat at a fair distance from them, an open space of 10 meters separated him from the five soldiers. He then took off the helmet he was wearing the whole time. Heero started to wake, soon Wufei, then Duo and so on. They stood up as their feet were not tied up unlike their hands that they struggled to get free with the bounds but in the end it was to no use.

"Don't pry yourselves loose. You'll only hurt yourselves," the person warned.

Those words alerted the five to the other occupant of the bridge, all of them having varying expressions on their faces. Heero and Trowa having unreadable faces, Quatre being confuse about the whole event, Wufei' eyes reflecting the irritation he was feeling and Duo grinning like a nutcase even in the dire situation they were in. The atmosphere was tense, all of them could see that and it didn't seem to be lightening up any time soon.

No one spoke a word, simply staring at each other's eyes. The five seemed to be reluctant to speak due tthe person in front of them being a total mystery. The person turned out to be young girl or that's what she had looked like. She had platinum blond hair that reach down to her waist. The color eyes were blue, only a little deeper to the color of Quatre's eyes. The boys were intrigue by her appearance being so similar to one of their comrade's.

"Oh yeah, you guys can take off your helmets as well," the girl suddenly told them. The five then realized that they were indeed still wearing their tinted helmets, seeing that there was no harm done in complying and as she had already so as well, each took off their helmets.

"Who are you and where did you take us?" Wufei ask her, after copying the others.

"I know you have a lot of questions you want answered but first," she made a number one gesture with her hand and reach something behind her. The five were immediately on guard, expecting her to pull out a gun and start shooting them but instead she faced them again to reveal blank paper and pen yet she did not make any move to start writing but instead spoke in an excited voice.

"First, -I am only here to greet you. I am not your enemy and never will be. I work for an old acquaintance of Doctor J and here to give the last mission he and the others have set to give you guys before they, without any warning drop dead," she started.

"What are you talking about?" Heero's curiosity had been peaked at the mention of Doctor J, taking a step forward.

"In other words, you're being sent to fight again. It should be no problem as it has only been months since the destruction of Libra and you're last battle." the girl responded

She did a gesture that look like a shrug, she cross her arms and tilted her head to the side in thought, the guys watch her every move, but did not say a word.

"If I am not mistaken, you came here after receiving an unknown mail, correct," it wasn't a question but a statement.

"Yes?" Quatre responded warily, wondering how the mysterious mail is connected to this situation, and then it "click" and everything became clear. Judging by the expressions on the other's faces, they have also arrived at the same conclusion.

"You're asking us to partake in a war that may very well destroy the peace we have work so hard for?" Duo said, his face no longer sporting his usual grin but an angered expression that was so unnatural for him.

Before the girl could respond a decent reply, she was cut off by another statement, this time by Trowa.

"Where is this conflict even taking place? Both the earth and the colonies are under the watchful eye of the USEN and the Preventer, something like a war would be prevented by them even before it starts."

Even with the sudden outburst of the two, the smile of the girl did not waver; on the contrary it seemed to grow wider. "So that's what you were thinking about, No, you don't have to worry about the long awaited peace being disrupted and the Preventers not noticing anything abnormal because the war isn't even taking place in the After Colony Era but in another timeline universally known as the Cosmic Era".

"And if what you're saying is true. How can we trust you? You're actions haven't exactly been trust worthy with our hand tied up like this," Heero said, raising his hands that are tied up to prove his point.

The girl started to laugh; it wasn't the sinister kind of laugh but a light-hearted one. "Sorry…It is only in precaution," she explained, wiping her eyes which started to water when she laughed.

"I think I've already said enough. Everything you needed to know should have been included in the mail. As the saying goes, Time waits for no one. Well then, Good luck." As fast as the eye could see, she pushed the trigger she was secretly holding. Beams were fired from above and the war veterans tried to dodge them but it was difficult especially with their arms tied up.

A beam hit Qautre square in the center, yet it did not obliterate him instead green particles covered him from head to toe and then he slowly turned transparent, and then disappeared. The next one hit was Heero and the same process happened as Quatre. While dodging a beam, Wufei sort of trip and fell hard on the head knocking him unconscious. The last two soon met the same fate as the first two and were instantly gone.

The commotion died down soon after the beams had accomplished their used. The girl then sat up from where she was, eyeing the unconscious Wufei on the floor. She undid his restraints and sat him where he would be confortable. After doing so, she pulled out the pen and paper she was holding a moment ago and started to write a message for when he would be waking up. She then got on the controls and stirred the ship to an anomaly forming in front of the ship. Activating the thruster, she freed the ship from colony it was attach to, block after block and colony debris being scattered in several directions.

The journey was smooth sailing. She soon contacted her comrades after they arrived, having done what she needed to do, she smiled and left the bridge, after that the ship they were on.

* * *

><p>A total of 4880 seconds past until Wufei stirred from his stationary state, his eyes shot open, rubbing the side of his head that had collided with something hard. His eyes were foggy and blurry, Wufei rub them to get rid of them. He later stood up and scanned where he was. He was still in the same place as before which was the bridge of some ship. He noticed a piece of paper lying innocently on the control panel.<p>

The writing was rather messy and the letters were almost indistinguishable. Wufei read the content.

**_"To summaries a few things, we need your help to stop these war. The Cosmic Era is an alternative time is nowhere near your home world. The only way to cross through the dimensions is with a certain machine. The war in that era is terrible and can cause a much more catastrophic outcome than in the After Colony Era. As for the ship, you and you're companions can use it however you want with it because of the ship originally belonging to the five scientists that trained you. The GUNDAMs are already pact for battle inside that ship. Only matters of time before they face combat again."_**

**_"Lastly, when your done there, you better hide the ship because if anyone aside from you and you're were to stumble upon it, it will cause a number of problems. Good Luck - Anance."_**

Wufei frowned at the content as this person was either crazy and need to be sent to a mental hospital or is telling the truth, as if he would belief that kind of story. He searches the ship's database to look for any more information and found a folder labeled "HISTORY". It took a total of three hours for Wufei to read through the history which he found out to be of the alternative timeline's. The history is totally different from the one he had known all his life, the only things that would have come close to being similar would have been of humanity ascending to live among the stars. "This proves it. She wouldn't have been able to make such complex history like these."

He then scanned the controls for the ship; "Now then, to hide these ship somewhere." He moved to work, stirring the ship to the asteroid belt where no one would think of going.

After attaching the ship to an easily noticed asteroid, Wufei left the bridge and rushed to the hangar where, according to the letter is where the Gundams were. He come down a level and arrived at the hangar. It was the same hangar as the one he and the other were led to hours ago.

He paced over the cloaked mobile suits at the one side. "If my theory is correct then this is the one," he thought and thus pulled hard the cloth that covered the last mobile suit to the left. Wufei stood back a few paces to avoid the fabric crashing down. It revealed in its marvelous form, ALTRON, Wufei's gundam.

"Glad to see you again, Nataku," he told the Gundam and for a split second, the eyes of the mobile suit glowed red.

"Now to see where we are." Wufei climb up to the cockpit of his Gundam and started her up. The control breath to life and not long after both Altron and Wufei were going down to earth and see what the world had in store for them.


	3. Unconditional Parting

_Disclaimer: sethMARYmerle does not own anything, neither Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed or any Gundam related stories. They belong to their respected owners._

**_Improper Parting_**

Duo was jolted awake from his dreamless sleep by the doorbell. He shot up and clumsily hitting the pole right above the bed. "Ouch, that hurt," Duo said as he grasp his forehead that hit the said pole. He sat at the side of the bed and look around, he did not recognize anything in the room.

The doorbell kept getting louder and Duo couldn't take it anymore. He strode to the door and opened it. The person outside hadn't yet noticed that the door was opened and kept on ringing the bell. Duo had enough. "What is it?"

The person was surprised to say the least. "Oh right…I was told to wake you up around these time. You only arrived yesterday so you must be tired," the person smiled and left the braided pilot alone. Duo had already closed the door and was halfway to the bed again when he comprehended what the guy has just said.

He immediately ran back to the door but the guy was nowhere to be seen. Duo gave up and returned to the bed, to get his thoughts straight. The last thing he could remember was being hit by a beam, the next thing was waking up here, wherever here was. He went over to the window to find out. The streets below were filled with people, going to whatever destination they have.

The scene didn't help Duo figure up where he was so he steps away from window and look around the room. It was of decent size and could accommodate one person. Just then he noticed a piece of paper on the desk, neatly folded into a square. He unfolded the paper to find very messy hand writing, almost like the person whom wroth this never held a pen before. Following message was left inside.

"_**Duo Maxwell, this letter is for your eyes only, please dispose of it after reading. You have been sent to an alternative timeline from the After Colony Era called the Cosmic Era. The place you're in now is an apartment building located in Aprilius One, a colony in PLANTs which is its capital as well as home to the PLANT Supreme Council. The PLANTs is an independent nation where most coordinators live. You won't find any naturals there unless they are the parents of first-generation coordinators. We've already done all the necessary paperwork for your stay there hence you longer need to forge them yourself. They are in the drawer of the desk along with a disk that contains data on everything you need to know about that era. Good luck-Anance"**_

Duo sighed after reading the paper. "Looks like I have my hands full with these." He thoroughly scanned the document plus the disk with the PC present in the apartment. He yawned due to only waking up minutes earlier.

He began to check the place out and see if anything aside from the message was left behind. He found the dresser filled with some of change of clothes and decided that he might as well go out and explore his new environment.

He had come down the apartment with the elevator and simply blended among the population. Primarily, he took on exploring everything around him. The air there was fresh and natural that showed no sign of pollution. In addition, the plants were very much as green as any as he had seen on; he wouldn't have believed that he was in a colony if it were not for the ceiling. All in all, Duo concluded that the technology here in the cosmic era was much more advance than their era in order to create such a natural artificial colony.

He had been so engross by the scenery that he did not notice before bumping into someone. Duo was caught in surprised and blankly stared at the person that had knocked him over. "You know, it's rude to stare at people." The person said which effectively snap Duo from his little trance.

"Oh….Sorry about that, I wasn't looking were I was going," Duo apologized and the person gladly help him up on his feet. The guy chuckled, "Don't worry. I had a lot in mind and didn't look where I was going either so we're even."

The guy was probably the same age as Duo or a bit older, with bright blond hair. He couldn't distinguish the color of his eyes due to the long bangs but it was somewhere between the shades of blue and violet.

"The name's Miguel Aiman by the way," the person replied after dusting his cloths and extending his hand out to Duo. The recipient of the hand made a moment's hesitation.

"I'm Duo Maxwell, Nice to meet you," He grinned cheekily.

"Maxwell…. That's a unique name. First time I've heard of it." The guy named Miguel commented.

"Well, I'm from a different colony, maybe that's why you never heard of it. I moved to the Plants due to some special circumstances." Duo replied back.

"Hmm…Then, Welcome to Aprilius One," Miguel congratulated. He then offered to show Duo around the colony as he was new there and as he didn't really have anything to do in the morning, who was Duo not to accept such an offer.

Miguel led him to a lot of places especially the landmarks like the PLANT supreme council headquarter and a large dome used for concerts. Miguel talks about many things, mostly about the conflict between the Naturals and Coordinators which Duo was more than happy to listen to. He was able to keep the conversation going even with the lack of information.

There last destination was the military based located inside the colony. As it turned out, Miguel works as a ZAFT pilot, his reason was solely to keep his younger brother and mother safe. They now stood on the outside of the fence that was the compound of the base. Due to Duo supposable a "civilian", they could not enter.

"Hey, I have a suggestion. Would you like to join ZAFT," Miguel asks out of the blue.

"Sure, why not?" Miguel was caught off-guard by the fast reply as he didn't expect an answer right away. "I was planning of doing so in the first. It was one of reason why I come here." It was most likely the hidden objective of that girl anyway," Duo added mentally.

The two part ways in the afternoon, Miguel having same work to do. Duo returned to the apartment alone. It was already night time by the time Duo got back in his room due to him getting lost in the foreign city. He slump down on the bed as he was tired but it seemed he could not sleep.

"Wonder how the others are doing right now? Heero's probably up to no good again. It would take four months in the academy, enough time to get use to in this new country," with those words, Duo fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Two kids walk along the shores of the neutral country, Orb. These two were siblings, casually taking a stroll on the gorgeous golden sand. It was a nice and bright summer day, perfect to have a picnic on the beach which is what the family of these siblings did.<p>

Suddenly the younger sibling, a girl of age seven come to a halt, eyeing something floating on the waves. The object was indistinguishable in the girl's eyes.

"Nii-san, what is that," she asks her older brother while pointing at the said object.

The boy turned to look at where his little sister's fingers were pointing, his smile being wiped away in a second upon laying eyes on the object. "Mayu, go call Mom and Dad," he hastily told her, at the same time, he took off his shirt and run towards the water.

The girl called Mayu followed what her brother told and come back with their parents in toe. The thing Mayu have seen earlier was revealed to be a person. He was wearing a black flight.

When their parents have arrived at the scene, their son had just about brought the person to the shores. The two adult quickly got to work and began with taking off the helmet that concealed the person's face. It revealed a young boy with an untidy nest of dark brown hair. Miraculously, the helmet kept the water a bay so that the boy did not drown. He was only unconscious and the family decided to bring him to a hospital to make sure that he was ok.

Heero regained consciousness a day after his return in dry land. He tried to sit but the wires connected to his body prevented him from doing so however the equipment did not react when he had woken up and that was just one of the unnatural skills that he acquired in the rigorous training he was put through.

He silently took off the wires, one after another until all of them were hanging loosely beside his bed. No one had yet noticed his activities. When he had woken up, he was wearing a patient's gown and thus rampage around the room for any suitable cloths to wear. He found inside the drawer beside the bed a simple pair of black jeans accompanied by a clean white t-shirt.

After his hunt, footsteps began to echo towards his room. He hides behind the door after it opens but instead of a Nurse or a Doctor as Heero expected. A young girl with dark violet hair tied in a twin tails entered the room, carrying a basket of fruits.

The girl was puzzled as the Onii-chan wasn't in bed. The door slummed shut behind her and she yelp in surprise, turning around to find the said "Onii-chan" standing next to the door. He knelt down in front of her and raised his index finger to his leaps, signaling her to be quite.

"Tell them I'm not here," he instructed and went inside the restroom to hide again. Not long after, the older brother entered the hospital room, finding his sibling alone in it.

"Mayu, where is?" He asks immediately.

His sister shook her head and answered in a sad tone. "He's gone, Shinn-nii."

The boy, Shinn's face grew bewildered. "Wait here." He runs back to the nurse registry to ask about the whereabouts of the patient.

Heero come out of his hiding place when the coast was clear. "Thank you," he told Mayu nostalgically, silently remembering a certain event in the past. He knocks her unconscious and placed her on the bed. Silent as a mouse, he left the hospital unnoticed and Shinn along with a nurse he had called found the scene left by Heero.

Meanwhile, the said boy wondered to a dark alleyway far away from the hospital. He stops to take a break and leans against the cold pavement wall. He now notices a piece of paper sticking out of the jeans he was wearing, unfolding it, the following words were written.

_**"We had some trouble with the transportation, sorry for the inconvenience. Anyhow, the place you're in is an alternative timeline within the neutral country of Orb, one of the few countries that accept both Naturals and Coordinators. The necessary documents are already taken care of so you don't need to trouble yourself along with an apartment for you to live in for a little while. It is up to you what you will do from now on, BEST of LUCK. -Anance"**_

Heero's face turned emotionless on the course of reading the piece of paper. Pondering whether this was same sort of prank from his good old friend and the self-proclaimed God of Death, Duo Maxwell. He stuffs the sheet back to his pocket and exited the alleyway. Planning on finding out where the others had wondered of and check a few minor or maybe major things.

* * *

><p>A truck traveled in the endless land of the North African desert. It held a man and boy who seemed to have come from the city behind them. The truck was loaded with piles of firearms enough to set fire on an entire base. The man looks to be in his mid-thirties, sporting the average African skin color along with the boy that sat in the passenger seat. He was using a pair of binoculars to scan the sand dunes around them, probably to keep an eye out and to make sure that they are not followed by anyone, enemy or not.<p>

As it turned out, the two were guerilla soldiers, fighting to protect their homes from ZAFT that have recently taken base in the nearby city. The two neared the entrance to their frontline base, hidden by a bunch of rocks that served as a great cover for them. Just then, the boy signaled the older man to stop the truck. Coming to a halt, the youngster ran up toward the back of a rather large stone. The reason for the boy's sudden haste was because he had caught a glimpse of someone lying unconscious behind the rock. It was quite dangerous for someone to just lay there, especially in a desert as they might die in dehydration.

The boy was correct as he arrived. The older man came right next to the boy as he stood over a young man, a bit older than the boy pass out.

"Ahmed, help me take him back to the truck. We can't just leave him here," the man ordered the boy now known as Ahmed as he took the right arm of the young man and slings it over his shoulder. Ahmed did the same motion in the left side. They returned to the truck and quickly rush to their base.

When they arrived, the older man brought the person to the resident doctor. He examined the condition of the young man, his face brightening up as his work.

"He's going to be alright, Sahib. It seemed that he only pass out due to lack of sleep. He'll be waking up after 4 hours of sleep." the Doctor told the older man aka guerilla leader before turning back to his office.

Sahib then turned to face his men that have gathered due to the commotion they've cause. "What are you standing around for, get to work," he ordered. They crumbled to do as there were commanded, first taking the supplies from the back of the truck then moving them to the storage room.

The light from a lamp nearby woke Quatre up from his unconditional sleep. He felt like he had slept for a whole day or maybe he did sleep a whole day as he did not know when and where he is. A boy, a bit younger than him was sitting in the same room. Once the boy noticed that he was awake, he stood up. "Oh your awake, wait a minute. I'll call the leader," said the boy before running out the door.

Quatre tried to stand up but found that his legs were weak and caused to fall back on the bed. His hand found itself above a piece of paper resting on the bed. He first thought it was but a mere clean paper but in closer inspection, Quatre found words written on the corner. The words were so small; no wonder he didn't see it at first. It was a message, and from the last memory he could recall, it was either written by one of the other Gundam pilots or by the girl they met.

_**"I'll make this quick and simple. You are in a place called the Sahara Desert in South Africa. There is a single city in the middle of the desert. There is an apartment there where you will find all the things you need over there, including a brief history of the Cosmic Era. It is up to you what you do from now but rest assured that you will be reunited with your comrades, Best of luck-Anance."**_

The wooden door made creaking sound signaling that someone was coming in. Qautre quickly hide the paper the people as not to be seen.

The boy from earlier returned accompanied by a man with a thin scar on his right cheek." You gave us quite a fright there, collapsing on your own in the middle of a desert," the man smiled and stretches out a hand, intending to do a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, I am Sahib Ashman, leader of the Desert Dawn," he introduce himself.

"Qautre Winner," he answered, taking the outstretch hand.

"What were you doing out in the desert alone and without supplies? You could have died, you know." Sahib stated as a matter of fact.

"I don't really remember. The last things I could was unpacking my things in the apartment I have rented in the city,' Qautre answered back, deciding to go along with what the piece of paper said, since he could bet that it came from the person that brought him there.

"Well, why don't you stay here for the day? We are going to the city tomorrow for reconnaissance. You could come with us?" Sahib offered, wanting to aid the stuck youth.

"Thanks for the help," said Quatre.

Sahib left after that, saying that he still had something to before the day ended. Ahmed grinned in Qautre's direction before following his senior. Quatre stared where the two men stood, his smile being replace by worried face. Even if the message reassured him that Duo, Trowa, Heero and Wufei were safe, he still couldn't help but worry where they are.

He decided to stick with the guerillas for now and get use to this universe. He would try to get as much information about the four as he can from his position in the vast desert.


	4. Battle Initiate

Disclaimer: sethMARYmerle does not own anything, neither Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed or any Gundam related stories. They belong to their respected owners.

^_^ _Battle Initiate_ ^_^

The Orb Union is one of the few countries in the entire cosmic era where Natural and Coordinators coexist and live side by side without any kind of conflict caused by prejudice, unlike the world around it where blood is shed in every corner. Heliopolis, a space colony of this neutral country has this same atmosphere. The citizens in this colony lived a peaceful life however those quite lives will end today, the day when this colony disappears from this universe and also the day when the lives of certain youngsters get thrown upside down.

Green mechanical bird soured through the skies of the colony in search of its master. It found the young boy sitting on a shed in the park. The boy had chocolate brown hair and violet brown eyes that was focused on the screen of his laptop. He was certainly busy with something while at the same time listened to a news feedback. The green bird sat on top of the boy's computer.

"Kira."

The boy lifted his head at the sound of his name being called. His eyes lingered to look at two of his close friends. Tolle Koenig was a boy with curly brown hair, a bit lighter than Kira's and light green eyes, beside him was his girlfriend, Mariallia Haw, a young girl with short orange hair and blue green eyes.

"So this was where you've been hanging out, Professor Kato's been looking for you. "Tolle informed his friend.

"He said to bring you their immediately," continued Miriallia.

"Again...I still haven't finish the work he gave me yesterday," Kira complained in distress.

The couple then noticed the video being played on Kira's computer, getting behind him to get a beetter look.

"What's this, Some breaking news." ask Tolle while seeing the report.

"Yeah, Kaoshiung apparently," Kira answered, enlarging it to fit in the screen.

"Waaaaa...if this video wad taken a week ago, then they might have alrwady taken over Kaoshiung," commented Tolle. The video then soon ended and Kira turned off his computer.

"Kaoshiung isn't that far, is it? Will the homeland be alright," Miriallia voiced her worries.

"It's ok. Even if its close, Orb is a neutral country. It is less likely to be attack," Tolle reassured his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Kira had stop listening to his friend due to him remembering a distant memory. It when his childhood friend had moved away to the PLANTs in order the avoid the growing conflict. They made a prom7se back then, that in the future they will surely meet again.

"KIRA."

The brown haired boy was startled awake from his daydreaming causing him to jump backwards. The two chuckled at Kira's behavior.

"Come on, We better get going," Tolle beckoned as walk away.

"Hey, isn't that Barton." Miriallia suddenly said, pointing at a tall person walking ahead of them.

"Yeah, you're right... Let's go say hai," Tolle proposed to his two friends whom agreed. They sped up their pace and soon catch up to the the tall youth.

"Hey, Trowa... How'd you been," said Miriallia once they reach him.

Trowa in turn, turned around when he heard his name being being called. He faced Tolle and Miriallia, Kira running behind them.

"Where have you been? You haven't attended the seminar for two days now," inquired Tolle, simply just curious.

"I've got things to do," Trowa answered indifferent, his blank expression unchanging.

On the other hand, while the three of them spoke, Kira had other things in mind. In the last few months that Kira had known Trowa, he had grown suspicious of him. Trowa, in many occasions have shown skills should have only been possible if he were a coordinator like Kira however when he had ask him about it, he denied being one.

Another thing that caused Kira to be suspicious was his sensitivity about anything that concerned his past, like his hometown and family. He didn't share any details about those things to them even when they had known him for the past four months he had been living in the colony.

"Oy...Kira," Mariallia said when she noticed that Kira wasn't listening.

"Aaah... Ye Yeah," Kira stammered.

"You're really out of it today. Come on, Trowa agreed to come with us today,"Mariallia told him and turned to walk with the two other boys who was already ahead of them by a few paces.

* * *

><p>Just outside of the colony, two ZAFT ship led by the famed Rau Le Crueset. ZAFT reserved Intel on the possibility that Heliopolis was giving aid to the Earth Forces in constructing weapons that could rival ZAFT's mobile suits.<p>

A certain familiar braided pilot rested in on one of these ships, although at the moment he was not a pilot but just a simple ZAFT soldier. It is because in from the beginning, he thought that he shouldn't make himself stand out as much as he usually does.

Right now, Duo was putting on his green military space suit along with the other soldiers in the changing room. They were part of Rau Le Creuset's elite team and were sent to carry out tan operation to utilize a threat pose by the Orb's military manufacturing company secretly developing five mobile suits for the Earth Alliance.

The team's goal was to simply capture the mobile suits and retreat as soon as possible to reduce the possibility of damage to the colony or the 5 mobile suits. The team composed of fifteen individual who were hand chosen by the commander himself. They were divided into five squads, to lead by the red elite present in the team.

In the question of how Duo had manage to enter the military so quickly in the span of the six months he had been present in the cosmic era, there was a simple response. Duo, using that clever and cunning mind of his, made use of the files/documents left to him by 'Anance' and acquired some privileges that would allow him to graduate from the academy on a much earlier date.

Also, in the six months that he had been prent in this alternate era, Duo met quite a few interesting people. For example were the five whom graduated from the academy as the top five students and the same five that will be leading them on this operation.

"Ready to go? Maxwell," questioned Dearka Elsman, one of the five mentioned earlier. He was a young man with blond hair and with violet colored eyes. He had a sort of humorous personality and also a rather arrogant view on Naturals that he shared with Yzak Joule, another one of five. Duo would laugh of the thought of when those two discovers that he was actually born a natural and not a coordinator.

"Right on it," Duo answered, following the others to the pods that will be taking them the nearest they can to the colony.

Entering the colony was no problem at all since most of the actions they will be carrying out were already planned. First they were to set bomb on various locations inside the hangar that contained the new build Earth Alliance warship, the LCAM-01XA Archangel in hopes that they were enough to completely destroy the warship.

Once they were outside, the squad regroups and went to search of their main objective. The five mobile suits stated in the report should have been on the other side of the colony and that was just where they were headed.

* * *

><p>The four teens arrived at their destinations minutes after their encounter with Trowa. The office was already occupied by three people, one they didn't know about whom leaned against the wall outside of the professor's workplace. While the five friends, meaning Kira Yamato, Mariallia Haw, Tolle Koenig, Sai Argyle and Kuzzey Buskirk joke and teased each other, Trowa went to his own station and started working on the things he had missed for not attending in two days however Trowa's mind wasn't really in on finishing the work and just let his finger fly across the keys as they usually do.<p>

Trowa had a number of things in mind like why he had stayed in this colony during the six months living in this Era. After his initial meeting with the person named 'Anance', Trowa woke up in an apartment with no recollection of what happened after being hit by a green beam. The only thing that served as a clue of what happened was a piece of paper he found stacked inside his helmet that contained a message from 'Anance'.

It has been months since then, more than enough time to get to know his new surrounding and probably find information about the whereabouts of the other pilots.

The message provided only the basic information needed about the Cosmic Era and that they have already provided the things he will be needing I his stay there, from a false family background and a place for him to live. It sort of puzzled him why these people would go so far however Trowa just decided to wait for an answer a little while longer until their next meeting.

All of a sudden, a tremor shakes the entire office causing several appliances to topple over and cause the others to lose their balance. The abrupt quake also caused the lights to flicker on and off resulting for the room to dim.

"What was that," Kuzzey voiced out after the unexpected shaking calmed down.

"Might have been an explosion and there was more than one of them," Trowa thought, formulating a notion on what might have been the cause and purpose of those explosions. Kuzzey opened the door to the outside to find several factory worker whom had gathered together due to the shaking however when ask about it, none of them had any knowledge of the source.

The group then went along the corridor in search of the exit. When they found, Sai opened the door and another set of factory workers moving up the stairs to the emergency exit.

"What's happening," Tolle ask one of the passing workers whom replied with shocking news.

"It's ZAFT. ZAFT is attacking." he answered. His voice wavering and with a troubled face succeeded his co-worker to the outside. The group exchange anxious expression before following the adults outside of the already crumbling building.

Trowa breaks away of the group, careful not to let anyone notice and then he traced back his steps, maneuvering through the thick smoke cause by the explosions. His objective was to find the control room where he might get a better handle of the situation.

It took him no time to locate the room as somehow he had memorized the layout of the facility beforehand. He found it emptied of any worker due to the evacuation still in progress

He went to one of the monitors and searched the cameras for any kind of footage that might hint the intention of ZAFT for attacking the neutral Orb Colony. In reality, he already had an idea of what their target was due to his little hunt in the past two days. He had stumbled on a file containing information about the Earth forces top military secret being built inside the Morgenroete factory.

It seemed that his hypothesis was correct as one of the cameras outside of the factory caught footage of ZAFT soldiers capturing the moving truck the contained the rumored prototypes that was being moved from the factory. Three were taken but as they were supposed to be five of them, two should still be inside and according to the data. They were inside the left block.

Having learned what he wanted, Trowa left the control room and rushed toward the left block. Heavy artillery were still being exchange by the two opposing side when he arrived and there seemed to be no end of it until there was no one left standing. Trowa soon joined the gunfire, taking down as many soldier on both sides as he can without killing them using a gun he had secretly hidden.

"LOOK OUT."

That voice caught Trowa's attention as it sounded like an acquaintance of his. However that single distraction allowed an opening for an enemy soldier to shoot him. Fortunately for him it took more than that to knock him down. Performing a perfect backflip, he manages to escape from the soldier line of sight and hide himself among the fallen equipment, providing a good cover.

From his new found position, He caught a glimpse of Kira descending towards an Earth Alliance Officer.

"_What is he still doing here_?"Trowa cursed.

He watch as when Kira neared the officer, she as shot right through her right shoulder by a ZAFT soldier. The funny thing was, just as the red-clad soldier was about to stab both of them, he stop midway. Trowa didn't need to see his face to deduce that for whatever reason the ZAFT soldier was shock to see Kira there. Who knows? Maybe that soldier and Kira knew each other long ago; after all Kira is in fact a coordinator. Trowa averted his eyes from the scene, focusing back to his own predicament. It was about time to leave this place as his plan to take one of the mobile suits didn't go so well. Then, just as he was about to make a move, his eyes landed on a person among the chaos, shooting a soldier down on the ground.

Although most of his face was covered with a helmet, Trowa knew that maniac grin no matter where he was. Making sure not to let anymore bullet pass through his body, Trowa approach the person who was still preoccupied with shooting an Earth Alliance officer.

"Maxwell?"

The said person turned around, gun at the ready however he did not shoot as the voice that called seemed awfully familiar.

"What the, Trowa?" Duo stood shellshock as he stared at a face he hasn't seen for months.


End file.
